


Nightmare

by A Small World (Datawolf39)



Series: Caring for The Doctor [4]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Cuddles, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Non-Sexual Age Play, The Tardis just wants 13 happy, not too graphic though, ood plushie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:29:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22261846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Datawolf39/pseuds/A%20Small%20World
Summary: What it says on the tin, 13 has a nightmare.
Series: Caring for The Doctor [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1599967
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Titles are hard, that is all

"Graham, press the yellow button then the blue one, Ryan you pull the silver handle all the way down, wait five seconds, then push it back to where it is now. Yaz you have to hit the orange button as soon as Ryan is done, then press the red one. Ready?"

They nodded.

The Doctor pointed her sonic screwdriver at the computer. "Now Graham!"

The man quickly pressed his buttons, Ryan moved the handle as instructed, and nodded to Yasmin as he pushed it back. The girl pressed the buttons as she had been told, and froze.

The Doctor turned and smiled at them. "Well done team," she said, "all the creatures are back where they should be now." Sirens began to blare inside the room.

"No no no no no!" The Doctor said sounding panicked.

"What's happening!?" Yasmin yelled.

"Failsafe kicked in," The Doctor said quickly, as she dashed around waving the sonic and pressing buttons.

The sirens suddenly stopped. "Okay good news and bad. I managed to shut off the failsafe so the building won't blow up."

"That's good," Ryan agreed.

"Bad news-"

"Automatic cleanse in 60 seconds," an automated voice informed them.

"Bad news anything living is about disposed of. Run!"

The four of them dashed to the exit.

The Doctor made it out first, and turned to find only Yasmin was behind her.

"Graham! Ryan!" she called. "Yaz what happened to them!?"

"They were right behind us," Yasmin said with a hint of panic.

"Oh no."

"No they can't be…" Yasmin trailed off unable to finish the thought.

"Doc!"

"Yaz!"

The two of them turned to see Ryan and Graham jogging towards them from the side of the building.

"What happened!? You had me so worried!" Yasmin cried hitting Ryan with enough force to make him wince.

"A beam fell from the ceiling, and cut off the path. We just barely managed to find another way out," Graham told them.

The Doctor smiled. "Well all's well that ends well. Let's get back to the TARDIS gang, she gets antsy when I'm away too long. Actually, she's still mad about the whole regeneration thing, not my fault really, well it is, so maybe I should just get her a treat," with that she quickly rushed off.

"What kind of treat do you get for a spaceship?" Graham asked.

Ryan and Yasmin shrugged, and the three of them hurried to catch up with their friend.

~

Turns out, a treat for the ship included thoroughly cleaning several key areas, stopping to let her refuel on some energy that sounded like it was made up by someone who wrote technobabble for a living, and thinking certain thoughts in certain places.

It took six days, and The Doctor didn't seem to get any kind of rest, sleep or otherwise, during that time. "Doc, I think you need a break," Graham said the next morning."

"I'm fine," she assured him.

"Doc you're exhausted; you look like you're going to fall over."

"I said I'm fine!" she snapped. Her eyes widened as she realized what she had done. "'M sorry. Didn't mean to yell, Graham."

"I know," he said.

"I'm really sleepy, Graham," she whispered.

"I know," he said again. "Do you want some help getting ready for bed?"

She nodded.

"Alright let's go get you settled in."

~

Graham and Ryan pounded on the door as the cleansing sweep moving closer. She tried everything to get them out, the sonic, breaking the glass, but it wasn't working.

The beam got closer and closer until it made contact with them, and they **screamed**.

~

The Doctor woke up feeling smaller than she had in a very long time. She wanted to scream, but she was too tired. She wanted to sleep, but she was too scared. What if she dreamed it again. What if next time it mixed with other nightmares!?

She grabbed her ood plushie and held it close. "What should I do, Oodles?"

Her eyes widened in shock. "I can't do that!"

"He did say that."

"Will you come with me?"

"Okay let's go," she said giving Oodles a hug.

She got out of bed, and left her room. The floor under her feet was cold, but she didn't want to turn back because it had taken forever to get brave enough to leave in the first place.

She walked slowly, holding Oodles tightly, but he didn't complain because he knew how scared she was.

She got to the door, far quicker than she should have, she glared at the ceiling, and the TARDIS hummed unrepentantly.

"Are you sure this is okay, Oodles?

The Doctor took a breath, and knocked on the door. Her lip trembled as she knocked again. Maybe he heard her, but he was pretending not to because he finally saw how much trouble she was? Just as she was about to ask Oodles if they should go back to bed and lay there until the scary dream stopped being scary, the door opened.

"Doc?" Graham murmured sleepily as he rubbed his eyes. When he finally took in her appearance, shivering, dressed only in the gown she had went to bed in, and clutching her alien doll as though it was the only thing keeping her from falling apart, the worry had him alert in an instant.

"Come on Doc, let's get you taken care of," he said holding his hand out to her.

She gazed at him, then at her doll, before throwing her arms around Graham in a sudden hug. Graham was surprised, but he wrapped his arms around her, and after a moment, she let him guide her to the bed. She snuggled into him, like she had done before, and finally let the tears fall.

It wasn't hard to figure out the cause of this tearful nighttime visit. "I'm no Sherlock, but I'm guessing you had a nightmare eh? And a pretty nasty one from the looks of it."

The Doctor giggled.

"What's so funny?" Graham asked, a little concerned about her sudden emotional shift.

"How do you feel about lizards?" she asked.

"I like them well enough, I suppose, why do you ask?"

"Tell you later," she said with a yawn.

"Probably best you get some sleep," he agreed.

"What if I have the nightmare again?" she whispered.

"I'll be right here to help you remember that you are safe on the TARDIS and not wherever your nightmare takes you."

"Oodles says I should tell you what my nightmare was about."

"I think Oodles might be right, sometimes it makes it better."

She was quiet for so long that he thought she had fallen asleep. Then she spoke in a haunted whisper. "You and Ryan didn't get out. I dreamed that you both died."

Another knock on the door saved him from having to come up with something to say.

"It's open," Graham called out.

The door opened to reveal Ryan in a t-shirt, and a pair of pajama pants.

"You alright?" Graham asked. Ryan wasn’t normally up this late.

"There was a weird sound in my room, and I think the TARDIS wanted me here for some reason."

The Doctor's eyes were fixed on Ryan.

"Yeah, Doc had a nightmare that we didn't make it out of that building in time. Maybe the ship knew she needed to see you before she could get some rest."

"Oodles wants you to stay," she said softly.

"What about you? Is that what you want?"

The Doctor blushed but nodded before hiding her face behind Oodles.

"Good thing all these beds are so big," Ryan remarked as he slipped in on the other side of The Doctor.

"Thank you," she said softly, and safe between them, she drifted off to sleep before she could hear them reply.


End file.
